Field & Stream Magazine — June 22, 2005
With just two weeks to go before the sixth annual Great Outdoor Games in Orlando, the competitors are buzzing with anticipation.
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| Peg Engasser |
Here are a few names to look for this July 7-10 in Florida:
Timber — Men's Endurance
Although four-time gold medalist Jason Wynyard is clearly the favorite, his competition will not give up the gold easily, especially his brother-in-law.
Dion Lane lost the title to Wynyard last summer but is coming back hungry. For this head-to-head race, which tests both lumberjack skills and pure strength, he has been training in an altitude chamber that builds lung capacity by steadily reducing the oxygen level.
And then there's last year's bronze medal winner, attorney Arden Cogar, who is finally fully recovered from a 2002 ruptured triceps tendon and warns the others to be wary. "Don't count out the short, fat, white-collar stiff," he advised.
Timber — Women's Endurance
If, as they say, wanting to win is everything, Peg Engasser and Sheree Taylor will be neck and neck.
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| Sheree Taylor |
But first, she'll have to wrest the title from last year's champ, Taylor, who is legendary for her guts and drive.
When doctors pronounced that a back injury would end her career in 2001, Taylor returned to the Great Outdoor Games the following year and left with a gold medal.
Timber — Women's Log Rolling
After taking home the bronze medal in 2004, recent Middlebury College graduate Katie Hoeschler is back to compete for the sixth time.
Hoeschler's biggest challenge is rolling her sister, Lizzie, who defeated her to earn silver last summer.
"Usually, you want to visualize just crushing your competitor. But I couldn't do that to my little sister," Katie Hoeschler said.
The sisters' mother and coach, Judy Scheer-Hoeschler, is a seven-time world champion.
Timber — Women's Boom Run
Twenty-three-year-old Mandy Erdmann, a nursing graduate student, will defend her title this summer.
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| Mandy Erdmann |
Her feet naturally turn out, and therefore she doesn't have to run sideways on the log.
"This sport helps me define who I am," she said.
Meanwhile, she and her competitors are defining the sport for women.
Target — Archery
In March 2005, Josh Deering shot a perfect round in the Buckmaster qualifier. It was his second competition ever.
A born competitor, this 25-year-old arborist will make his first appearance at the Great Outdoor Games and just may be a wild card. Deering plans to shoot just as he does in practice, calmly and collected.
"I don't get worked up easily," he said, "and my nerves stay steady most of the time."
Target — Rifle
When a man names his children after gun-related terms (Remington, Shooter and Briley), you know he is die-hard.
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| Mike Cumming |
Cumming moved up from a bronze medal in 2003 to a gold in 2004, and intends to take another first-place prize home in 2005.
His key to success is poise. "If you play against the other guy, you might lose," he said. "If you start missing, don't play catch up. The slower you shoot, the better you do."
Sporting Dogs — Agility Super Weave
Olga Chaiko and her border collie, Luz, compete almost every weekend, a commitment rooted in both love for the sport and financial need.
"I'm a first generation immigrant," Chaiko said. "I came to this country with a duffel bag. I don't have much."
Chaiko and Luz have participated in the Great Outdoor Games since 2002, winning gold and silver medals. They are more than dog and handler; they are partners.
"If there is a good luck charm for me, it is Luz," Chaiko said.
The Games will be aired on ESPN and ABC Sports July 13-17, 2005. Click here for the broadcast schedule.
This article on the Great Outdoor Games 2005 Web site is brought to you by the editors of Field & Stream and Outdoor Life.
For more information, visit www.fieldandstream.com
and www.outdoorlife.com.
